Biz Quizzard 895

 Presenting the current affairs quiz for the period May 17 - 22. Hope you enjoy it.

1. In a first of its kind move globally, Amazon is launching an ad-supported video streaming service only for its Indian audiences. What has it been branded as?

2. According to a report last week, Warburg Pincus has ended a two-year-old joint venture (JV) with which hospitality company for student housing and coliving spaces?

3. Which company has announced a new initiative to support new tractor customers, with provisions for health insurance of Rs 1 lakh and preapproved emergency financial support to farmers?

4. The wholly owned subsidiary of which cloud communications company has appointed John Owen as chief executive officer of its Europe and Americas operations?

5. Which commercial vehicles manufacturer celebrated the month of Ramadan with the film ‘Celebration of Sharing’?

6. Which cookware company launched the campaign ‘#HanosMomsCan’, acknowledging its Hanos range and mothers as superheroes?

7. For Mother’s Day, which food brand launched the campaign ‘#MaaIsMoreThanACook’ in collaboration with actress Sameera Reddy?

8. Which smart device brand has launched the 'sleep sign-in' campaign to emphasis the need for continuous blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring?

9. Siddharth Shriram, 76, passed away last week due to Covid-19. He was the former chairman of which company?

10. WPP’s creative agency Ogilvy has elevated whom to the position of chairman, global creative?

11. Which business-to-business (B2B) commerce platform has become the latest entrant into the coveted unicorn club - those startups with valuations of $1 billion or more?

12. Which 2 companies have agreed to merge to create the largest internet company in Indonesia, before seeking a stock-market debut at home and in the US?

13. Which life insurance company has announced the appointment of Abhay Tewari as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer?

14. Inbisco India, a subsidiary of global food and beverage giant Mayora, has roped in which celebrity as the brand ambassador for its flagship brand Malkist?

15. Which senior living community operator has partnered with Fortis Healthcare to launch a mental wellness initiative titled ‘#ReachOut’?

16. Which online grocery retailer has announced change in its logo, changing its name to lowercase?

17. Which company has purchased the assets of biopharmaceuticals firm Vitane Biologics for Rs 90 crore to scale up production of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India?

18. Twitter is all set to launch a paid subscription service. What will it be called?

19. Which MNC’s UK subsidiary, Earlyguard, is commencing arbitration under the India-UK Bilateral Investment Treaty after I-T authorities raised an Rs 2,400-crore demand related to a 2007 transaction?

20. Which MNC has agreed to spin off its media operations in a $43 billion deal with Discovery Inc that will create a new entertainment company?

21. Which generic drug maker has entered into a royalty-free, limited and non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with Eli Lilly & Co to manufacture and distribute Baricitinib?

22. The private equity division of which Wall Street investment bank has taken a significant minority stake in contract research firm Aragen Life Sciences, formerly known as GVK Biosciences?

23. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a kit for home testing for Covid-19 infection, developed by which Pune-based company?

24. Online grocery startup BigBasket crossed which milestone gross sales mark in financial year 2021?

25. Which digital payments company is set to acquire homegrown content and app discovery platform Indus OS in a deal valued around $60 million?

26. Which group is acquiring Silicon Valley-based online education company iD Tech for $200 million?

27. Which company last week recalled about 237,000 bikes sold between December and April due to a defect in the ignition coil that causes the engines to run suboptimally?

28. Which automobile company, in partnership with Zydus Hospitals, has announced the start of a multi-speciality hospital at Sitapur in Ahmedabad, Gujarat?

29. Which cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity aggregator has launched a digital campaign titled ‘#BitcoinLiyaKya’?

30. Which company has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire SB Energy India from its shareholders, Soft-Bank Group and Bharti Enterprises?

31. Which company has received the approval from the country's drug regulator CDSCO to manufacture and market Liposomal Amphotericin injection, which is used to treat mucormycosis?

32. Which IT company will acquire NxT Digital Business, a cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence platform, from the parent group for Rs 198 crore?

33. Which startup’s founder Zhang Yiming is stepping down as CEO ahead of a highly anticipated mega IPO?

34. Which drug major has announced the commercialisation of its RT-PCR test kit ‘ViraGen’ for COVID-19 in India, in partnership with Ubio Biotechnology Systems?

35. Which Bengaluru-based tech-enabled supply chain platform for the healthcare sector has acquired Vardhman Health Specialties (Vardhman) for $40 million?

36. Apurva Purohit has quit as the president of which media group?

37. Which online marketplace for longtail / unbranded products has launched a new brand campaign with the positioning ‘Humara mission sabse kam commission’?

38. Alphabet Inc's Google last week said it would open its first physical store in which city this summer?

39. Which company collaborated with stand-up comedian, writer and YouTuber Biswa Kalyan Rath to launch a campaign titled 'Mast aadmi' to bust myths around using robot vacuum cleaners?

40. Microsoft will shut down which browser in 2022?

41. Which real estate developer has launched a new campaign ‘Feeling Boxed in your home?’ featuring brand ambassador and actor Akshay Kumar?

42. Which advertising agency has announced the appointment of Kamlesh Pandey, as ‘Legend in Residence’?

43. Which global data and measurement-driven media agency, which is part of GroupM, has appointed Sonali Malaviya as the agency’s Managing Director for India?

44. Which generic drug maker last week launched a drug Posaconazole to treat the deadly black fungus?

45. Bhaskarrao Govind Sandu, 81, passed away last week. He was the chairman of which pharmaceutical company?

46. Which fintech firm, through its group company ZikZuk, has introduced Founders Card, a credit card for SME owners?

47. Which bank has launched ‘Phir Jeetenge’, an anthem against Covid-19?

48. Which personal hygiene brand has forayed into the female grooming segment with sub-brand Furr?

49. Which fitness brand has roped in actress Nora Fatehi as its brand ambassador?

50. Who last week joined the board of drug firm Sun Pharmaceutical as an additional independent director and the board of technology and engineering company Bosch as an independent director?

Please mail your answers before 12 noon next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 895 as the subject. Answers will be mailed to those who attempt the current edition within the given time.

Happy learning!

rajeev kondapalli

Biz Quizzard 894

 Presenting the current affairs quiz for the period May 10 - 0815. Hope you enjoy it.

1. The market value of Tata Sons´ direct stake in group listed companies crossed which milestone mark for the first time on May 8?

2. Which consumer goods major said it will provide 4,000 oxygen concentrators to India to help meet the medical oxygen requirement of home-bound patients and hospitals?

3. Which is the only Indian company to feature in the 2021 ranking of global retail power houses by Deloitte?

4. Which life insurance company launched its Mother’s Day digital video with the theme ‘#MummyKahanHain’?

5. Which retailer launched the campaign ‘#MyFirstLove’ encapsulating a few of the many ‘first’ special moments shared between a mother and her child?

6. Which food brand launched the campaign ‘#MaaHaiTohJahanHai’ paying tribute to every mother's undying love and all the foods that connect us to them?

7. Which mutual fund launched the campaign "Sahi Baat Mummy Ne Kahi Thi" for Mother’s Day?

8. Which bank has launched the campaign ‘#MomsOnDuty’?

9. Which edtech firm launched the campaign ‘#HerFreshStart’ encouraging mothers to reboot their careers and get back to work?

10. Which MNC has acquired Embassy Industrial Parks at an enterprise valuation of Rs 5,250 crore from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group in the largest yet logistics and warehousing deal in the country?

11. Which company last week said Srinandan Sundaram will be its new executive director for foods and refreshment business from July?

12. Which skin and hair care brand launched the ‘#JustLikeMom’ campaign focused on offering simple personal care regimes with products useful for mothers as well as the child?

13. Which grooming products company launched the campaign ‘Wave of Love’ for Mother’s Day?

14. Which bank has bought 1.5% stake in CSC Grameen eStore for about Rs 10 crore?

15. Amitabh Chaturvedi has quit as the CEO of which financial services group?

16. Which Ayurveda-inspired functional chocolate brand has been launched in the country?

17. Which retailer has launched a campaign with the tagline ‘India ki Asli Dukan’?

18. Which airline from India has announced the launch of flight services to Tokyo starting June 16?

19. Which company has announced its entry into the pain relief spray market with the launch of Ayurvedic ‘Rheumatil Spray’?

20. Which ecommerce firm last week launched a platform ‘Sanjeevani’ to connect COVID-19 patients with potential plasma donors?

21. Which automobile company launched the campaign ‘mother in all of us’?

22. Which beverage brand has partnered with audio streaming app Gaana to curate an exquisitely picked selection of the finest of classical music?

23. Which job-specific skilling and employment marketplace for high-tech job seekers and employers has roped in cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin as brand ambassador?

24. Which individual investor last week bought a 2.3% stake in Solara Active Pharma Science worth Rs 135 crore?

25. Which CEO has donated $15 million in his personal capacity to three non-profits working in India, as the country grapples with a deadly second Covid-19 wave?

26. Which online investment platform has signed an agreement to acquire the asset management company of Indiabulls Housing Finance for Rs 175 crore?

27. Which fintech firm has acquired 17% stake in insurance tech startup Artivatic(dot)ai for an undisclosed sum?

28. Dubai-based family office Mark AB Capital will take over which engineering procurement and construction contractor by picking up 26% stake for Rs 350 crore?

29. Which Coimbatore-based company has launched Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) that can be used by doctors and frontline workers?

30. Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) foods and refreshments leader Sudhir Sitapati is joining which company as MD and CEO?

31. Which company last week announced the acquisition of biscuits business from Patanjali Natural Biscuits (PNBPL) in a slump sale at Rs 60.02 crore?

32. Integrated health and wellness platform cure(dot)fit has announced that it has completed an extensive rebranding effort to change its brand name. What is the new name?

33. Which online grocery retailer launched its digital campaign ‘#HeroesRaiseHeroes’ for Mother’s Day?

34. A consortium of financial investors, led by Multiples Alternate Asset Management, will acquire the animal health business of which group for Rs 2,921 crore?

35. Which executive has set up a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Seven Islands Inc with his former employer to explore acquisition opportunities in India, South Asia and Southeast Asia?

36. Which digital Payments platform is likely to get about 7% stake in Japan’s PayPay, two years after the Indian company was given a call option to convert its holding into shares?

37. Which investment giant last week reported an annual net profit of $45.8 billion, the best ever for a Japanese company?

38. Rajeev Karwal, 58, passed away last week due to Covid. He was the founder and CEO of which company?

39. Mohan Kumar succumbed to the coronavirus last week. He was the India head for which MNC?

40. Which American cloud computing and virtualization technology company has named India-born company veteran Rangarajan (Raghu) Raghuram as its next CEO from June?

41. Which company last week announced the US launch of Ertapenem for injection, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Invanz approved by the US Food and Drug Administration?

42. Which Bengaluru-based company has rolled out 'ViraNorm' - ayurvedic immuno-modulator, which helps treat Covid-19 patients?

43. Which Indian group has opened its regional headquarters office in Singapore with focus on the energy, infrastructure and technology portfolios?

44. Which auto-tech company has appointed Mayank Jain as CEO of its new auto business?

45. Which menstrual hygiene brand has launched the campaign ‘'Mud ke nahin, ud ke dekho!’, featuring actress Shraddha Kapoor, and with the positioning 'The power to be you'?

46. Which short video platform’s India chief executive Nikhil Gandhi has resigned?

47. Which billionaire last week donated cryptocurrency worth over $1 billion to India’s Covid-19 relief fund?

48. Which MNC terminated an agreement to sell its 80% stake in its joint venture renewable business in India to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board?

49. Which Hyderabad-based generic drug maker has entered into a royalty-free non-exclusive voluntary licence agreement with US-based Eli Lilly to manufacture and market Baricitinib?

50. Indu Jain passed away last week. She was chairman of which group?

51. Which Indian company last week named Robert Hentschel as CEO of UK-based Norton Motorcycle Company?

52. Which mutual fund has decided to merge Value Fund-Series 19, one of its largest closed-ended funds, into the Value Discovery Fund, an open-ended scheme?

53. Which country has become the first country to seek flexibility in the TRIPS Agreement to import 15 million doses of Covid vaccines from countries that have laws allowing production and export of medicines using the compulsory licence window?

54. Non-profit organization, Impact Guru Foundation has joined hands with which group to launch a Covid-19 warrior upskilling programme – Advance Nurses Growth Excellence and Learning (ANGEL)?

55. Which motorcycle company appointed Satoshi Uchida as its new company head?

56. Which company has appointed Mandira Bedi as the brand ambassador for its smartwatches and accessories?

57. Actor Varun Dhawan has stepped up to help the frontline workers amid coronavirus pandemic by partnering with which nutrition brand?

58. Which homegrown social media application last week rebranded itself with the launch of a modified logo?

59. Which incense stick brand has launched the initiative ‘#PrayForEveryone’, a short video with a universal prayer?

60. GoAir is rebranding itself as an ultra low-cost carrier. What is the new name?

61. Which airline last week filed preliminary papers for an initial share sale worth Rs 3,600 crore?

62. Which entity has launched a new campaign ‘Wahi Rivaaz Naya Andaaz’ honouring Akshaya Tritiya’s rituals in a different manner?

63. Which cement brand has launched ‘#HumSeHaiSuraksha’, a social movement for plasma donation?

64. Which hospitality major has launched the digital campaign ‘Good Food = Good Mood’?

65. Which MNC has appointed Gunjan Shah, the former chief commercial officer of Britannia Industries, as its new India CEO?

Please mail your answers before 12 noon next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 894 as the subject. Answers will be mailed to those who attempt the current edition within the given time.

Happy learning!

rajeev kondapalli